A lesson learned from app.net is that when all conversations on a social network are meta-conversations *about that social network* you get an incredibly boring, self-centered echo chamber that's very unappealing to most audiences (which, in turn, makes it more boring and self-centered).
Disclaimer: not *all* conversations on app.net were about app.net. Far from it, actually. Still, it was such a prevalent topic that it might as well have been the only one. I'm convinced this is what killed it.
@howfar yeah⦠also, to some degree these conversations are probably necessary. I was just trying to pin down what makes me feel so pessimistic for this place, and i think it's because to me mastodon feels very early-days-app.net. And both the enthusiasm and the meta-conversations are what make it feel like that.
Anyway, I'm not trying to poo-poo mastodon or even meta-conversations. It's just an observation β I'm here because I hope it works out π€·π»ββοΈ
@Ada I thought about this yesterday. I keep telling myself it is just young...
@owlasylum it is, and to some degree this is probably needed. It was a year down the line when app.net started feeling like a self-centered monoculture because it couldn't stop talking about app.netβ¦
@Ada It's always like that for a while..
@Ada I lost interest in reddit.com, and later steemit.com, because of this.
@thor huh, maybe I drew the wrong conclusions then? Reddit seems rather successful last I heard
@Ada But... this right here is very meta. Like, just live life and get on with it. You can make it whatever you want it to be.
Example: I spent four hours in a motor vehicle building #becausewhynot BUT also, I've had some great adventures and still lots of stories to tell. Who doesn't wanna connect with reality without constantly analyzing it? π
@Averly point taken. I also don't think that this kind of meta-conversation is bad in and of itself. It's probably necessary. And then there's another difference between thinking publicly about what one wants for a social network and armchair quarterbacking how the rest of the world just doesn't understand it and doesn't know what's good for them. Both of which are fine, but the latter becomes a problem when it's what β in public perception β your social network is for π€·π»ββοΈ
@Ada content is crucial .... good content and conversations which has nothing to do with the platform itself. without this a platform will soon die.
@Ada Avoiding this is like trying to practice mindfulness, though. Thoughts about the exercise are still just thoughts, and meta-meta-conversation is still just meta-conversation.
I think, though, that things might well work themselves out here. Ironically probably because I'm already following a bunch of interesting people from Metafilter! :)